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{{Use British English|date=May 2012}}
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{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict    = Siege of Ladysmith
| partof      = [[Second Boer War]]
| image       = [[File:Ladysmith Town Hall 1900 - Project Gutenberg eText 15972.png|300px]]
| caption     = The town hall at Ladysmith, showing shell damage to the tower.
| date        = 2 November 1899 – 28 February 1900
| place       = [[Ladysmith, South Africa|Ladysmith]], [[Colony of Natal|Natal]], [[South Africa]]
| casus       = 
| territory   = 
| result      = British victory
| combatant1  = {{flagcountry|United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland}}
| combatant2  = {{flag|South African Republic}}<br/>{{flag|Orange Free State}}
| commander1  = {{flagicon|United Kingdom}} [[George White (British Army officer)|George Stuart White]]
(contracted; show full)hern Natal known as the "Natal Triangle", a wedge of land lying between the two Boer republics.<ref>Pakenham, pp.97, 107</ref> Instead, White deployed his forces around the garrison town of [[Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal|Ladysmith]],<ref name="TLO2-C3">{{cite book|coauthors=Durand, Henry Mortimer; White, George Stuart|title=The life of Field-Marshal Sir George White, V.C. |publisher=W. Blackwood|location=Edinburgh, London|year=1915|volume=Volume II|pages=17–27|chapter=III 
-– Arrival in South Africa|url=http://www.archive.org/stream/lifeoffieldmarsh02durauoft#page/17/mode/1up|accessdate=2009-12-011 December 2009}}</ref> with a detachment even further forward at [[Dundee, KwaZulu-Natal|Dundee]]. The entire British force could concentrate only after fighting two battles at [[Battle of Talana Hill|Talana Hill]] and [[Battle of Elandslaagte|Elandslaagte]]. As the Boers surrounded Ladysmith, White ordered a sortie by his entire force to capture the Boer artillery. The result was the disastrous [[Battle of Ladysmith]], in which the British were driven back into the town having lost 1,200 men killed, wounded or cap(contracted; show full)

==The storming attempt==
The Boers around Ladysmith were also growing weak from lack of forage. With little action, many fighters took unauthorised leave or brought their families into the siege encampments. Eventually, with the Tugela in flood, preventing Buller from giving any support,<ref>{{cite book|title=Buller's Campaign|publisher=The Cresset Press|location=London|year=1963|page=191|chapter=10 
-– Spion Kop|author=Symons, Julian}}</ref> some younger leaders persuaded Joubert to order a storming attempt on the night of 5 January 1900, before another relief attempt could be made.

The British line south of Ladysmith ran along a ridge known as the Platrand. The occupying British troops had named its features Wagon Point, Wagon Ridge and Caesar's Camp (after features near [[Aldershot]], well known to much of the British army). Under Ian Hamilton, they had constructed a line of forts, [[sangar (fortification)|sangars]] and entrenchments on the reverse slope of the Platrand, of which the Boers were unaware.

In the early hours of 6 January, Boer storming parties under General C.J. de Villiers began climbing Wagon Ridge and Caesar's Camp. They were spotted and engaged by British working parties who were emplacing some guns. The Boers captured the edge of both features, but could not advance further. British counter-attacks also failed.

At noon, de Villiers made another attack on Wagon Point. Some exhausted defenders panicked and fled, but Hamilton led reserves to the spot and recaptured some empty gun pits. Late in the afternoon, a terrific rainstorm broke, and the Boers withdrew under cover of it. 

The British suffered 175 killed and 249 wounded. 52 dead Boers were left in the British positions, but their total casualties were not recorded.

==The later siege and relief==
{{Main|Relief of Ladysmith}}
[[File:The Relief of Ladysmith by John Henry Frederick Bacon.jpg|thumb|The Relief of Ladysmith. Painting by [[John Henry Frederick Bacon]] (1868-–1914)]]
[[File:Rejoicing at St. Andrews, New Brunswick, on Water Street on Receipt of the News of the Relief of Ladysmith, South Africa.jpg|thumb|Rejoicing in St. Andrews, Canada upon receipt of the news of the relief of Ladysmith.]]

(contracted; show full)Gough]] and which [[Winston Churchill|Churchill]] claims to have been a part of, rode in on the evening of 28 February.<ref>Churchill, W.S. ''London to Ladysmith via Pretoria'', London: Longmans, Green & Co. 1900, p. 208-10</ref> White reportedly greeted them saying, "Thank God we kept the flag flying".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9A0DE4DE1339E733A25755C0A9659C946197D6CF|title=BOER TRAITS AND BRITISH TRAITS.|date=
1900-03-06|publisher=[[6 March 1900|work=The New York Times]]|accessdate=2009-05-1111 May 2009 | format=PDF}}</ref>

==Aftermath==
The relief was widely celebrated,<ref name="NYT1900">{{Cite news  | title = Small Riots In Cape Colony  | newspaper = The New York Times  | pages = 2  | date = 5 March 1900 | url = http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9A05E6DE1339E733A25756C0A9659C946197D6CF | format=PDF}}</ref> followed by much larger celebrations after the [[Siege of Mafeking]]. There were four [[Victoria Cross]]es awarded during the siege, [[John Norwood]] on 30 October 1899. At Wagon Hill on 6 January 1900, [[Herman Albrecht]] and [[Robert James Thomas Digby-Jones]] (who both died), and [[James Edward Ignatius Masterson]].

==Medical treatment during the siege==
Early in the siege an agreement between [[George White (British Army officer)|George Stuart White]] and [[Piet Joubert]] lead to the creation of the neutral ''Intombi Military Hospital'' some {{convert|5|km}} outside Ladysmith. During the siege, the number of beds in the hospital camp grew from the initial 100 to a total of 1900. A total of 10673 admissions were received and treated at Intombi.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Watt|first=S|title=Intombi Military Hospital and Cemetery|journal=Military History Journal|publisher=Die Suid-Afrikaanse Krygshistoriese Vereniging|volume=5|issue=6|url=http://samilitaryhistory.org/vol056sw.html}}</ref> One train per day was allowed to carry wounded from Ladysmith to Intombi.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ladysmithhistory.com/a-to-z/intombi/|title=Intombi|publisher=LadysmithHistory.com|accessdate=2009-05-1111 May 2009}}</ref>

==Notable casualties during the siege==
* [[Arthur Stark]], author of ''The Birds of South Africa'' was killed after being hit by an unexploded Boer shell in the Royal Hotel.<ref>{{cite book|last=Nevinson|first=Henry|title=Ladysmith -– The Diary of a Siege|pages=106|url=http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/16603}}</ref>
* [[George Warrington Steevens]], British author and war correspondent, of enteric fever.

==See also==
*[[Battle of Ladysmith]]
*[[Relief of Ladysmith]]
*[[Military history of South Africa]], specifically the [[Second Boer War]]
{{Commonscat-inline|Siege of Ladysmith}}

[[File:Varieties of Ammunition collected at Ladysmith - Project Gutenberg etext 21280.jpg|thumb|Varieties of ammunition collected at Ladysmith]]

==References==
{{Rreflist|colwidth=30em}}

==Bibliography==
*Kruger, Rayne; ''Goodbye Dolly Gray'', New English Library, 1964
* {{cite book|last=Donald|first=MacDonald|title=How We Kept the Flag Flying: The Story of the Siege of Ladysmith|publisher=Ward, Lock & Co|year=1900}} Available as {{internet archive|howwekeptflagfl00macdgoog|How We Kept the Flag Flying: The Story of the Siege of Ladysmith}}
*McElwee, William; ''The Art of War: Waterloo to Mons'', Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1974. ISBN 0-253-20214-0 
*Pakenham, Thomas; ''The Boer War'', Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1979, ISBN 0-7474-0976-5

==External links==
*{{gutenberg|no=16603|name=Ladysmith, The Diary of a Siege by Henry W. Nevinson}}
*{{gutenberg|no=16466|name=Four Months Besieged, The Story of Ladysmith by H. H. S. Pearse}}
*{{gutenberg|no=14426|name=London to Ladysmith via Pretoria by Sir Winston S. Churchill}}
*{{gutenberg|no=15972|name=The Record of a Regiment of the Line by M. Jacson}}, Being a Regimental History of the 1st Battalion [[Devonshire Regiment]] during the Boer War 1899-–1902.  Deals extensively with the Siege of Ladysmith
*[http://www.pinetreeweb.com/conan-doyle-chapter-07.htm Conan Doyle, Arthur; The Great Boer War]
*[http://www.gutenberg.org/files/26198/26198-h/26198-h.htm#Page_38 Creswicke, Louis; South Africa and the Transvaal War, Vol. 2 (of 6)]
*[http://www.free-ebooks-uk.netfirms.com/great-boer-war/13-the-siege-of-ladysmith.html free ebooks uk]

{{Coord|28|33.6|S|29|46.8|E|type:city_region:ZA|display=title|name=Ladysmith}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ladysmith, Siege Of}}
[[Category:Conflicts in 1899]]
[[Category:Conflicts in 1900]]
[[Category:Battles of the Second Boer War]]
[[Category:1899 in South Africa]]
[[Category:Sieges of the Second Boer War]]
[[Category:History of KwaZulu-Natal]]
[[Category:Histories of cities in South Africa]]

[[es:Sitio de Ladysmith]]
[[eu:Ladysmitheko setioa]]
[[fr:Siège de Ladysmith]]
[[it:Assedio di Ladysmith]]
[[no:Beleiringen av Ladysmith]]
[[pl:Oblężenie Ladysmith]]
[[ru:Осада Ледисмита]]